Success Story
Reducing Microsoft 365 Waste by $5m a Year.

A global energy company found their Microsoft 365 costs spiralling out of control.

With a major renewal on the horizon, they needed immediate, in-depth insight into how their 80,000+ employees were using licences so they could negotiate from a position of strength and cut unnecessary spend.

The Goals

Strengthen their position ahead of Microsoft 365 contract renewal
Reduce overall Microsoft licencing costs
Reclaim and reassign unused or underused licences
Align licence types to actual employee needs
Continuously monitor and optimise licence usage over time
Free up budget for other critical IT projects

Success Story - Reducing Microsoft 365 Waste by $5m a Year - Thumb Solutions

The Solution

By embedding Hublsoft, the customer gained full visibility across their M365 estate, combining live usage data with business context and AI. This included:

Intelligent tagging and Active Directory clean-up
Cross-departmental cost allocations
Usage analytics aligned to business roles and priorities

With this clarity, they could confidently plan licence assignments, reclaim unused assets, implement change approval processes, and make informed optimisation decisions at scale.

Success Story - Reducing Microsoft 365 Waste by $5m a Year - Thumb Outcomes

The Outcomes

Saved an initial $5 million per year through reduced Microsoft renewal spend.
Identified an additional $3 million per year in further optimisation at true-up.
Removed 16,000 unused licences from their agreement.
Reduced security risks by eliminating dormant accounts.
Reclaimed and reallocated unused licences across the workforce.
Unlocked further value in user adoption and cybersecurity initiatives.
Created over $8 million of budget for IT transformation projects